New WoG is that Incubus is also a Head of John practitioner(that’s what the nails to either side of his Key are from), so on top of the durability granted by the Key, his head is also nigh indestructible.

So either Allison has gotten immensely more powerful than what we’ve seen in the waking world, or Inky let her cut him.

We’ve seen her use the Blade of Want before and the Tend Cubit Spear seems to have a similar composition. Is it possible either of those are just able to defeat Head of John well enough to cause at least minor damage?

Given his mastery of Head of John and the corresponding cranial durability, it seems unlikely Allison could truly damage his cheek. I believe this “wound” to be a deception by Incubus. He is one of the Seven in a dreamworld of his crafting. Nothing can be taken at face value.

It’s a version of the moffereffin Blade of Want. I’m pretty sure its description includes a line which says “ignores ALL defensive techniques, powers, abilities, items, or buffs of any kind, no exceptions”.

The Tree of Woe was the most valuable possession of Mottom- the most powerful sorceress in all the multiverse (except maybe Jadis in her prime). I’m sure the enchantments that protected that tree were the Head of John several times over.

Its why I counsel up and coming fighters to seek out devils to teach them.

If they survive the experience they are no doubt going to be powerful beyond measure, for they understand that the battlefield, like their training, is chaos and only a fool attempts to bring that chaos completely under control through over reliance on technique.

’tis the wisdom of the Knights Belligerent for the student to slay the master, or for them to at least aspire to do so. They treat this serial treachery as a form of refinement, removing impurities in their lineage’s technique with each generation usurped. The masters are correspondingly brutal, so as to safeguard their tradition from being polluted by inferiors. Truly, this results in one of the most rewarding teacher-student relationships i’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing(and subsequently corrupting and devouring).

I recall from my days as a banker that there exists a regulation in certain localities requiring a license for the possession and use of kneecaps, and said license may be revoked at the discretion of any local or multiversal authority (such as myself, who governed fiefdoms in several universes of the Great Wheel).

I still may yet have the authority to revoke such a license, and enforce the confiscation of the licensed materials.

Yeah, my first thought was that it’s no wonder her wounds have never healed but scarred instead, if she still projects them in her dreamscape and sweats her essence through them. Her body would have needed a full rest, including in her deep sleep, for them to heal.

I SEE YOU SURVIVED, BEANCOUNTER, DESPITE THE VIOLENCE I VISITED UPON YOU WHEN LAST WE MET. TRUTHFULLY, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD. IT SEEMS THE MEMORY OF THE NOBLE METALS THAT ONCE PERVADED YOUR FORM HAVE NOT YET LEFT YOU, EVEN IF THE METAL ITSELF HAS.
IT SEEMS YOUR WORDS FROM WHEN WE LAST SPOKE MIGHT RING MORE TRUE THAN EITHER OF US REALIZED.

I’m afraid death and I are, and will remain, loose acquaintances at best. But it was not the memory of my precious blood that allowed my survival; rather my continued existence (I refuse to call it “life” at this point) is owed to my lowliness.

You left me in a wretched state, unrecognizable as a living thing. But fool that you are, you failed to notice that, in fact, this is just what I look like all the time. I escaped death by feigning total annihilation! If only by the skin of my eyeballs, I still yet draw breath, and I shall continue to steal in this elevator! Joubes Draco, former Regional Manager at the Bank of the Grand Dragon, may be destroyed, but he shall not die!

I offer you my humble greeting Joubes Draco, esteemed ex Bank Manager. In response to your earlier enquiry, Idiot is my calling and Idiot indeed i am.
I am certain that a banker such as yourself, even after dismissal and in somewhat reduced straits, would have no interest of any kind in my recent misfortune regarding missing lift cages, nor of the revelations of my subsequent investigations, namely that a number of ‘recently retired’ elevator cars and a quantity of good cable were recently received at the premises of one H King, dealer in scrap metal and general recycling, sold by a somewhat down at heel individual who, some days earlier had offered a quantity of molten gold heavily contaminated with spent black glass and of disappointingly inferior quality.
No, i am sure none of this is of any interest to you and i shall trouble you no further on this matter as you doubtless have other, more pressing concerns to attend to, having just publicly referred to a Knight of the Thorns as a fool.

I wonder about that. Incubus certainly *seems* vain enough, but his real face is also heavily scared and it doesn’t seem like he’s done anything to correct or hide that. I suspect at least part of his vanity is an act, to mislead and misdirect.

Pree Al-YISUN’s instructors consist of a continuous nuclear explosion in a suit of ash armor, a fragment of fundamental chaos that lies to the multiverse so well that reality capitulates to her untruths, and an interdimensional overlord glam god.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely…but it does not *have* to. Power is not an end, but a means. Power for power’s sake will ultimately break the wielder.

Why seek power? To answer this question, the wise man first asks “why do we fight?” The wise man knows that the evil ones fight because they can; the evil ones fight to gain power over others and to exalt themselves forevermore. The evil ones never realize until it is too late that sacrificing all they have for power means that in the end, their selves is all they will ever have left. The more you take, the less you have. This is the Paradox of Power.

But the good ones know why they fight: for home, for family, for peace. They do not seek to exalt themselves, they only wish to make sure their loved ones are safe. When the good people go to war, their souls are at peace. This is the Paradox of War.

The wise ones remember what the Bhodisattva of War Sun Tzu said. “If you wish for peace, you must prepare for war. And you must always remember that the true object of war is peace.” This is the Paradox of Peace.

The wise ones also know that if you do not know yourself nor your enemy, you will succumb in every battle. If you know yourself, but not your enemy, then for every victory you gain, you shall also suffer a defeat. It is only by knowing yourself and your enemy that you will prevail in every battle. This is the Paradox of Self.

This humble Censor shall add one further commentary to this discourse on Power. Why does Power drive the souls of the unwise and self-center mad, rendering them as intractable as rabid dogs?

The sage Orwell once observed that the worst Tyrants seek power for the sake of power…and that the surest way to demonstrate your power over others is to make them suffer.

This then, is the sweet poison that makes the powerful believe that kindness is foul and cruelty good…for even the mightiest of Deitarchs cannot know for sure that their power is unrivaled. When a rival or threat appears, it tears at their hearts. Are they stronger than me? Are they quick in thought or flesh? What Words of Power do they ken?

Their agitated minds cannot rest until they break their rivals in spirit, stamping their faces into the dirt, soothing themselves for a time with the narcotic mantra “Still, I am Supreme.”

And yet Wheel is vast and lit by trillions of little Flames––too many for even the fiercest Demiurge to test, break and control. Thus the forces of Evil never rest, never lie at ease. By using their power to enslave others, thus they become Power’s slave–the Paradox of Power spoken of by the Lawgiver.

What then, would happen if a consciousness knew, deep down, that they were the strongest? If they knew deep down, without any doubt, that no Animal in the Kingdom could ever strike them down?

Such a being may not be wise, or noble, or even clever…but their hearts would bear no hatred or envy, their minds no fevered schemes. They would treat their power as a mere trifle, and reach out to the hearts of others without fear of being hurt by rejection or betrayal.

This would be the mark of true Royalty, expressed through many facets…an Absolute Power that does not corrupt, but rather purifies and brings Absolution.

Ten Cubit Spear? The ancient cubit was defined as the length from the elbow to the fingertip. Since this obviously varied with the individual there were cubit rods used by various cultures as the official definition of the measurement, varying from a little under 18 inches to a little over 20 inches. Suffice it to say that 18″ is a rough approximation of a cubit.

Now 18″ x 10 would be 180″ or 15 feet in length for that spear. None of the representations above appear to be close to 15 feet in length.

Lots of people shit on Incubus, even WoG, but he’s still a demiurge- one of the seven most…10 most…well, top 20…ok never mind the exact number but he’s still REALLY EFFING POWERFUL. It doesn’t matter how he got there- if he was smart enough or strong enough or just plain lucky enough to be in the right place to snatch up the mantle of demiurge when someone else put it down, then he’s not one to be trifled with.

Of all the demiurges (that we’ve met anyway), IMO he seems like the one most likely to lie to everyone else about anything for literally any reason. So in otherwords I don’t trust anything Incubus says about his intentions, whethers it’s to Allison, or Jagganoth, or anybody.

It’s almost pure speculation on my part I admit, but a large portion of me is thinking that what Incubus really wants is a RIVAL. We know he’s ambitious and wants power, but you don’t get stronger by squishing ants. Incubus needs someone who’s powerful enough that he can flex his muscles against them and can throw down with a demiurge, but not so strong and politically entangled that the fight re-ignites universal war.

And right now, who fits that profile best? That’s right- it’s Miss Anime-Hair up there.

He’s messing with her. Sure, she’s gotten better, but even with training by Cio and White Chain, are we supposed to believe she became strong enough, mentally and physically, to take on the Lord of Dreams in his own realm, after only ONE year of training? To learn that kind of control would take decades!

Given the setting, maybe her not knowing she shouldn’t be able to accomplish such is why she can. That and the master key of the Key of Kings in her forehead (Zos kept the best all to himself). Let’s not forget that she out drank a BLACK DEVIL. Then re-bound it after it defaulted on their wager despite (or maybe because of) having no clue what she was doing and being plastered. Much to the shock of everyone watching.

Oh, and I was just wondering: what has happened to the Parade of Fools that kept following her around in the earlier books? At least Maya, Eris-lo Kai and Layla Brimstone seemed very serious about wanting to find her, but it’s a year later now, and not a trace!

Hold it. 1 cubit is 18 inches or basically the length of the fore arm and outstretched fingers. A 10 cubit spear is 15 feet. Doing a quick measuring the Spear she is holding is a generous 3 cubits. Measured using her forearm for a reference without the outstretched fingers likely bringing her down to 2 and a half cubits.

We demand answers as to how that voltaic conjuring gets to call itself 10 cubits!?

Ah, so she keeps both feet, and he is made to bleed in her ankle’s stead. Still, Allison may yet come to regret her displays of strength. In seeking approval, she may give away her secrets. We are all cool and strong when we are cold and misremembered.

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